278: Chapter 278 Unraveling the Ninth Palace: From Despair to Survival

In the dead silence of the world within the Formation, the chaotic mist rolled frantically.

Su Xuanchen's extremely casual yet infinitely arrogant voice was like a thunderclap splitting through the eternal night, exploding in everyone's ears.

“That magnificent heavenly palace that the Empress so mysteriously severed—it is precisely the missing Ninth Palace of this Formation!”

Boom!

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire world within the Formation fell into a deathly silence.

Gu Hongchen stood frozen in place like a petrified statue. Her cold, proud eyes were now wider than copper bells, and her pupils were experiencing a violent earthquake of shock.

“To... to forcibly sever an entire vast and boundless Ancient Heavenly Court palace from the inside of the Formation and use it as the Ninth Palace's Formation eye to suppress eternity?!”

Gu Hongchen sucked in a breath of cold air, feeling a chill rush up her spine to the top of her head, her scalp tingling to the extreme.

She was a genuine True Immortal Realm Expert! She understood all too well what such methods implied!

An ordinary Formation Grandmaster who could use mountains and rivers to set up a Formation was already considered an expert. One who could use stars as a Formation eye was a genius rarely seen in an eon.

But that Ancient Empress, Yun Lingxiao, had actually used the entire ruins of the Heavenly Court as the board and the vast Lingxiao Treasure Hall complex as the pieces, directly jumping out of the framework of this Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Formation to suspend the core Ninth Palace outside the Formation itself!

“Such spirit! Such heaven-reaching methods!” Gu Hongchen gripped the biluo emperor sword tightly, her hands trembling uncontrollably. “This is simply pinning the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth to the ground and rubbing it frantically! The Empress's attainment in Formations has actually reached such a terrifying peak!”

Gu Hongchen's understanding was completely overturned. She had originally thought Yun Lingxiao only possessed combat power that crushed her peers, but she never expected this Empress to be such an unprecedented, Heaven-Defying Prodigy in the path of Formations as well.

The Ice Spirit Snow Ape King, crouched at the bottom of the myriad things mother qi cauldron, was so scared that his knees went soft on the spot.

“Thud!”

This Half-step True Immortal Rank overlord of extreme cold knelt comically on the ice, his giant claws clutching his head.

“Oh, my dear mother!” The Snow Ape King’s rough, raspy voice was filled with extreme shock and awe. “Using a heavenly palace as a Formation eye! The Empress is just too fierce! To think this little monkey was wandering around the edge of such a peerless, murderous Formation back then—the fact that I’m still alive must be because my ancestors' graves are practically smoking with luck!”

Ji Luanxi also opened her rosy little mouth wide, her beautiful face filled with disbelief.

“Wow... Sister Xiyue's master is just too incredible!” Ji Luanxi marveled repeatedly, her watery eyes full of worship. “To sever such a massive heavenly palace just like that—how much strength must that take?!”

Listening to everyone's exclamations, Chang Xiyue stood quietly in place.

She didn't speak, but her cold eyes were similarly churning with stormy waves.

However, Chang Xiyue's shock at this moment wasn't just because of Empress Yun Lingxiao's earth-shattering Formation-setting methods.

She suddenly turned her head, her gaze extremely complex and even carrying a hint of undisguised astonishment as she stared fixedly at Su Xuanchen, who was standing to the side with his arms crossed.

“My husband...” Chang Xiyue's red lips parted slightly, an unquenchable wave rising in her heart.

This Formation was an eternal puzzle that the Empress had painstakingly set after stepping into the Immortal King realm! Even a True Immortal like Gu Hongchen, who had lived for countless ages, was like a headless fly when caught inside, unable to find the slightest clue.

But what about Su Xuanchen?

He had merely stood outside the Formation for a few glances and waited before these eight gates of death for a moment, yet he had so nonchalantly seen through and spoken the core, most secret mystery of this grand Formation!

“This kind of supreme insight that sees through all eternal illusions...” Chang Xiyue looked at Su Xuanchen's lazy and casual face, a surge of intense pride and admiration welling up in her heart.

In her heart, Empress Yun Lingxiao was a high and mighty, unapproachable supreme deity.

And now, the heaven-reaching wisdom and monstrous insight displayed by her husband was absolutely that of a world-shaking genius who was not inferior to the Empress! To be able to so easily see through the core Formation eye set by an Immortal King—besides Su Xuanchen, no one else in this world could do it!

Su Xuanchen keenly noticed Chang Xiyue's gaze.

He turned his head and looked at his wife's eyes full of worship and astonishment, and a punchable, mischievous smirk immediately hooked onto the corner of his mouth.

Su Xuanchen arrogantly raised his eyebrows and even wickedly winked his right eye at Chang Xiyue, looking quite proud as if to say, 'Your husband is just that awesome.'

Seeing Su Xuanchen's improper, clownish behavior, Chang Xiyue's originally heavy mood instantly dissipated. She couldn't help but let out a 'pfft' as an extremely bright and moving smile bloomed on her cold face.

“Alright, stop flirting with your eyes!”

Gu Hongchen's urgent voice suddenly interrupted their interaction.

The Gu Family Grand Elder was currently as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. Since the mystery of the Ninth Palace had been solved, it meant this Formation was not an unsolvable dead end!

“Lady Xiyue! Old Ancestor Su!” Gu Hongchen strode forward, staring intently at the eight gates emitting a terrifying aura of death, her tone extremely hurried. “Since the Ninth Palace is outside, how do we break the Formation now? Which of these eight gates should we take?!”

With the phoenix true blood and the heavenly court divine treasury right before her eyes, Gu Hongchen didn't want to wait a moment longer.

Chang Xiyue withdrew the smile from her face, her expression instantly returning to a solemn coldness.

Her gaze swept over the eight terrifying gates inscribed with blood-red characters, and she took a deep breath.

“I can try.” Chang Xiyue's voice was extremely calm, yet it carried an unquestionable firmness.

“When the Empress was deducing the prototype of this Formation, I was serving tea by her side and was fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of the core schematic of this Formation.”

Hearing this, Gu Hongchen and the Snow Ape King were both overjoyed.

Chang Xiyue didn't waste any more words. She directly closed her eyes, forcibly suppressing the myriad thoughts and grief regarding the Empress in her heart, and completely immersed her mind in her distant memories.

“Buzz!”

A pure Ancient Heavenly Court immortal charm radiated from Chang Xiyue's body. In her mind, that complex and obscure Formation schematic, which seemed to contain the birth and death of the Universe, began to be forcibly reconstructed bit by bit.

Cold sweat slowly slid down Chang Xiyue's smooth forehead.

Deducing an Immortal King level Formation, even if only recalling its prototype, was an enormous burden for her current cultivation.

Everyone held their breath, staring fixedly at Chang Xiyue, not even daring to breathe loudly.

An entire stick of incense's time passed.

“Swish!”

Chang Xiyue suddenly opened her eyes! Two brilliant ice-blue divine beams shot out from her eyes!

“Found it!”

Chang Xiyue let out a soft cry. Without any hesitation, her figure became like a swift blue bolt of lightning as she took the lead and charged toward the gate with the most terrifying aura, the densest Death Qi, and the large blood-red character for 'Death'!

“Sister Xiyue! Have you gone mad?!”

Ji Luanxi screamed on the spot, her beautiful face as pale as paper.

“That's the Death Gate! You'll lose your life if you go in!” Ji Luanxi stomped her feet in anxiety, wanting to rush forward and pull Chang Xiyue back.

Gu Hongchen also showed extreme incomprehension and horror.

“Lady Xiyue! Don't be reckless!” Gu Hongchen shouted, her hand holding the biluo emperor sword trembling.

Even if she didn't understand this Formation, she could clearly feel the world-destroying killing intent hidden behind that 'Death' gate. It was an absolute silence capable of annihilating a True Immortal's Divine Soul! A normal person would avoid it at all costs; how could they actively charge into it!

However, facing Ji Luanxi's cry and Gu Hongchen's confusion.

Su Xuanchen, who had been standing in place, didn't even knit his brows.

His lazy face showed no ripple of emotion, and his eyes held absolute trust in Chang Xiyue.

“Shut up and follow!”

Su Xuanchen gave a domineering cold shout.

Golden light flashed beneath his feet as the Xing Character Secret of the Nine Secrets was instantly activated. He transformed into a brilliant afterimage and, without the slightest hesitation, was the first to follow closely behind Chang Xiyue, decisively stepping into the 'Death' gate that radiated endless aura of death!

“This...” Gu Hongchen was completely dumbfounded.

Just as Su Xuanchen's figure was about to be swallowed by the 'Death' gate.

His arrogant voice drifted out from the endless darkness.

“Great Elder Gu, you've lived so long, have you never heard a certain saying?”

Su Xuanchen's voice carried a peerless sharpness that saw through everything, pointing out the core mystery of this Formation in one sentence.

“The Great Dao has fifty paths, heaven's deduction is forty-nine, and man escapes through the one! There is no such thing as an absolute dead end in this world!”

“Since all eight gates are paths of death, if one wants to break the situation, one must seek life within death! Only by placing oneself in a death trap can one survive!”

Boom!

These words were like an enlightenment, instantly exploding in Gu Hongchen's mind!

“Survival in the face of death... Placing oneself in a death trap to survive!”

Gu Hongchen's eyes suddenly burst with bright light; she had a sudden realization!

In such a Heaven-Defying Immortal King killing Formation, the life gate often hides the most fatal traps, while the most terrifying Death Gate is instead the only place where life resides!

“So that's how it is! The Empress's thoughts are simply unfathomable!”

Gu Hongchen no longer had the slightest hesitation.

“Big guy! Bring your people and follow quickly!”

Gu Hongchen shouted, grabbed the still-dazed Ji Luanxi, and turned into a red stream of light, charging into the 'Death' gate without hesitation.

The Ice Spirit Snow Ape King swallowed his saliva, gritted his teeth, and led the two Emperor Realm Snow Apes as they scrambled in as well.

“Buzz!”

When everyone's figures disappeared into the portal, the blood-red character on the 'Death' gate flashed violently, and the surrounding chaotic mist rolled again, completely covering everything.

After stepping into the Death Gate.

The scene before them changed instantly.

There was no light, no sound; the surroundings were an absolute, suffocating, endless darkness.

What was even more hair-raising was that the air was filled with an extremely thick, nauseating stench of decaying corpses!

This corpse stench was extremely strange; it didn't smell like ordinary rotting bodies, but like the remains of Ancient Gods and Demons that had decayed for tens of millions of years, carrying a bone-chilling coldness that could directly erode the Divine Soul.

“Cough, cough... It stinks! What kind of ghost place is this!” Ji Luanxi covered her nose, gagging in disgust as she held onto Su Xuanchen's arm tightly.

Gu Hongchen also frowned, immediately activating her True Immortal Protective Aura to isolate the stench.

“Everyone, be careful.”

Chang Xiyue, walking at the very front, stopped her pace, her cold voice sounding extremely solemn in the darkness.

“Although this is the only path of life, it is still inside the Death Gate. This corpse stench is formed from the remains of countless powerful enemies who fell in the Heavenly Court. This place still hides extremely fatal dangers!”

Hearing Chang Xiyue's warning, the three Ice Spirit Snow Apes behind her immediately acted as if facing a great enemy.

They lived year-round in the extremely dangerous Extreme Cold Ice Domain and were extremely sensitive to danger. At this moment, the white fur of these three giant beasts stood up like steel needles. They clearly felt an extremely familiar yet extremely fatal sense of unease lurking deep within this endless darkness!

“Roar...” The Snow Ape King lowered his voice, letting out a wary low growl from his throat, his massive body tensed to the limit.

Everyone moved forward extremely slowly in this dead darkness.

With every step, a slimy sensation would come from beneath their feet, as if they were stepping on some kind of rotten flesh, which was hair-raising.

Their nerves were tensed to the extreme.

Suddenly!

The pupils of Chang Xiyue, who was walking in front, suddenly constricted!

“Watch out! Don't step there!”

Chang Xiyue suddenly turned her head and let out a sharp cry, warning them urgently.

Her ice-blue eyes stared fixedly at the feet of an Emperor Realm Ice Spirit Snow Ape serving as a guard in the rear!

However.

Chang Xiyue's warning was ultimately half a beat too slow.

That massive Emperor Realm Ice Spirit Snow Ape was nervously looking around, and its right foot had already landed heavily.

“Click.”

A very faint sound, as if stepping on and crushing some kind of withered bone, sounded extremely piercing in the dead darkness.

The next second!

“Boom—!!!”

An extremely strange, heatless, world-destroying fire that was entirely pitch-black in color suddenly erupted without warning from where the Snow Ape's foot landed!

This black fire was terrifying! As soon as it appeared, the surrounding Void Realm didn't even let out a scream before being directly incinerated into absolute nothingness!

“Awoo—!”

That Emperor Realm Ice Spirit Snow Ape let out a terrified scream.

It reacted extremely quickly, and the Law of extreme cold of its Peak Emperor Realm cultivation erupted frantically without reservation! A layer of incredibly thick, stinging blue-lit Ten-thousand-year profound ice armor instantly wrapped tightly around its right leg, attempting to block this strange black fire!

However.

A hair-raising scene occurred!

That Law of extreme cold, which could even freeze the Void Realm, was like fragile thin paper before this black fire!

“Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!”

There was no steam evaporating, no roar of Laws colliding.

That indestructible profound ice armor was silently incinerated into nothingness the moment it touched the black fire!

The black fire was like a maggot on a bone, greedily and frantically spreading up the Snow Ape's right leg, swallowing its entire lower leg in the blink of an eye and sweeping toward its entire body with terrifying speed!

“Help! King, save me!”

That Emperor Realm Snow Ape let out a desperate, shrill howl. Its massive body struggled violently, but it could not extinguish even a single spark of the black fire.

The Snow Ape King was scared out of his wits, and Gu Hongchen was also full of horror, unable to come to the rescue in time!

Seeing that the strange black fire was about to completely swallow the Emperor Realm Snow Ape's entire body and incinerate it into nothingness.

At the critical moment!

“Swish!”

An extremely brilliant Immortal-demon sword light, carrying endless intent of destruction, exploded in the darkness like a bolt of lightning tearing through the night!

Su Xuanchen's gaze was cold to the extreme!

He used his fingers as a sword, the Myriad Tribulations Indestructible Primordial Demon Body operating with a roar, and struck down with an extremely decisive and ruthless hand-blade!

“Chirp—!!!”

The Sword Qi was like a rainbow, precise to the millimeter!

That immortal-demon Sword Qi overbearingly sliced through the Void Realm, cutting directly across the Emperor Realm Snow Ape's right leg above the knee!

“Splat!”

Hot beast blood sprayed out like a waterfall!

That massive right leg, completely swallowed by the black fire, was cleanly severed at the root by Su Xuanchen's hand-blade, falling heavily into the darkness where it was instantly incinerated into nothingness by the black fire!

The intense pain of the severed leg, along with the lingering heart-burning pain of the fire's erosion, instantly overwhelmed the Emperor Realm Ice Spirit Snow Ape's nerves.

“Thud!”

This mountain-sized extreme cold Vicious Beast crashed heavily onto the cold, slimy ground, letting out an extremely shrill and painful howl.